Jan 23, 2011 09:32 PM
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(Updated Jan 23, 2011 09:35 PM)
Having seen this attractive name "Dosa Calling" for quite some time we decide to visit this place in Adyar Indira Nagar this morning (23rd Jan).
As we enter a staff walks by without greeting us or guiding us to a table.
The place is not full and we find a clean corner table for ourselves.
We try to draw attention of the staff and finally after several minutes a Nepali or Chinese guy (sorry for being regional, but I have a reason - I prefer staff in restaurants to be familiar with food they serve) shows up with a menu card that is as beautiful as a coffee-table book (well, later we realize the appearance can be deceptive).
He comes back after a few more minutes and takes the order - from the difficulty he has in pronouncing the items we can understand that he is completely unfamiliar with these sort of food - can't Dosa Calling have knowledgeable staff who is familiar with food they serve? Cutting corners by having cheap labor?
Another few minutes and he returns saying that all that we have ordered are not available - well, he should have known better while we were ordering. :-( Then I ask him, "tell us what is available and I will order from that" - and, he starts fidgeting again tries to point items on the menu card - he does not even tell properly what is available.
I demand to see his manager and instead of the manager another attendant (Tamilian, apparently) shows up. According to him as it is only 20 minutes past 11 AM they don't have all the items that should have been available at 11AM (good logic!).
Apart from Plain Dosa and three more varieties no other dosa is available! Hmmm...even a Vasant Bhavan / Sriram Bhavan / Sree Bhavan / Anand Bhavan offers better variety on a Sunday morning. And then why give an elaborate menu card with food quotes (!) when your offer is so simple?
We order Plain Dosa, Paneer Dosa (without noticing the price) and coffee.
No one serves water yet and we have to ask to be given water. We get glasses that are not even filled completely (well, saving water is a good habit).
After reasonable wait our dosas arrive and I then feel like walking out - the size of dosas is small, the chutneys are prbably given by some miser - even the roadside shop offers more chutney and sambar when you buy a dosa there.
Now the taste - very very ordinary. Neither the dosa, nor the sambar or the chutney are tasty.
We anyway behave ourselves and eat whatever we are offered. And, yes, no one comes with the bucket of sambar or chutney for a second helping (long live the Bhavans!).
Our coffee is yet to arrive but our attendant arrives asking if we want to order anything else. I remind him of the coffee and the coffee shows up after a few more minutes.
While paying I realize that the Paneer Dosa is definitely overpriced at Rs. 90 - considering the taste and content - the cost of production is probably one-fifth of the price.
And definitely it is not an output of a 5-star chef. While walking out we peeked at the kitchen and notice a "mami" churning out dosas!
Anyway, that's the experience and I don't think I will return to Dosa Calling again.
